Flint City Council amends ordinance banning basketball in the streets

Hollyn Johnson | The Flint JournalHerbert Lang, 21, of Flint plays basketball in the street outside of his house Wednesday afternoon. Basketball hoops are not allowed on the street but the city of Flint is amending the ordinance to reduce the penalty to $25 per offense.

FLINT, Michigan — You could say basketball is a way of life in Flint.

It’s a city where some kids raised on the sport can land a fade-away jumper before reaching middle school, a city that churned out some of the sport’s most heralded legends.

The city of Flint clearly has a long-standing love affair with basketball.

Hoop dreams are part of this community, but in reality it’s a love-hate relationship.

City officials now plan to step up enforcement to keep rims out of traffic and the players out of harm’s way.

A new ordinance passed this week by City Council will actually decrease the fine for playing sports in the streets — from $500 to $25 — but it makes the ban easier to enforce.

Flint resident Nayyirah Shariff said the ordinance is “highly offensive” and targets young people.

“You lessened the penalty, but we’re not addressing why people are going to play ball in the streets,” she said. “This is just insane.”

Shariff said city leaders should be focusing on ways to support young people — not punish them.

Supporters, on the other hand, said basketball nets should stay in backyards and driveways, and fear that street games are sometimes used as cover for illegal activity, including drug dealing.

Flint resident Kevin Stange said he believes the ordinance should be enforced more often. Others argued the $500 fine should be kept on the books.

It’s an issue that nearly predates the sport of basketball itself. The previous ordinance is based on a rule placed on the books more than a century ago in 1909 that outlawed playing ball in streets and alleys.

Councilman Sheldon Neeley, who introduced the change, said the ordinance hasn’t been enforced enough, and the amendment will allow code enforcement officers — not just the city’s shrunken police force — to issue the citations.

“We want to help the traffic flow and take the children out of harm’s way,” Neeley said. “It has proven to be a nuisance.”

Under the new law, ballplaying is no longer a criminal offense and players can be fined $25 for the first offense. The fine doubles for each subsequent offense.

Previously, players previously could be fined $500, serve jail time and face criminal charges for using a sporting accessory, such as a basketball hoop or hockey net, in the street.

Former state Rep. Vera Rison said the city council shouldn’t have to enforce what should be a common sense law.

“I don’t need nine councilpeople to tell me when a basketball hoop needs to be taken out of the street,” she said. “Common sense tells me I don’t want my child in the streets.”

The council on Wednesday passed the amendment to the ordinance, which makes it illegal to “place or maintain in the public right of way a sporting accessory in such a manner that the sporting accessory is impeding the flow of traffic or that persons using such sporting accessory are impeding the flow of traffic.”

Neeley said the council will be monitoring to see if the ordinance is being enforced.

“I understand the need for recreational opportunities for young people, but having that in the streets wasn’t good,” he said. “There are alternatives to playing ball in the streets.”